National Basketball League (Australia)
The National Basketball League (NBL) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australia and New Zealand. The league was founded in 1979 and is currently contested by eight teams; seven from Australia and one from New Zealand. Current clubs *Adelaide 36ers *Cairns Taipans *Melbourne United *New Zealand Breakers *Perth Wildcats *Sydney Kings *Townsville Crocodiles *Wollongong Hawks League overview The National Basketball League is regarded as one of the premier basketball leagues in the world, and after a humble beginning, is today home to some of the world's best players. In 1978, Basketball New South Wales president John Raschke sat with 10 interested parties in an unused aircraft hangar at Sydney Airport to discuss the formation of a national competition that would help the development of the sport throughout Australia. A national competition was also seen as a way of improving the standard of players who would compete for Australia at events such as the Olympic Games and FIBA World Championship. Since that day, the NBL has grown from a fledgling competition with games played in front of just a few hundred people to a league that attracts more than 750,000 spectators each season, as well as prime-time television audiences for games broadcast live nationally. While games were initially played in small suburban stadiums, clubs now perform at major Australian arenas, including the 14,000-seat Perth Arena, the 10,500-seat Sydney Entertainment Centre and the 8,000-seat Adelaide Arena. Basketball also has one of the highest participation rates of any team sport in Australia, with numbers continuing to grow each year. Between 1979 and 1998, the NBL season was played between April and September, but following 1998 season, the league moved its season to the summer, with games played between October and April. The first summer season was played in 1998–99. Brisbane and Illawarra competed in the first NBL season in 1979, alongside the St Kilda Saints, Nunawading Spectres, West Adelaide Bearcats, City of Sydney Astronauts, Newcastle Falcons, Canberra Cannons, Bankstown Bruins, and Glenelg Tigers. St Kilda won the inaugural NBL championship and repeated its success in 1980, but withdrew from the 1981 finals to compete in the World Club Championships. Launceston went on to win the 1981 title. In the early 2000s, the Sydney Kings won the title three years in a row, becoming the club to do so. They won it in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 before returning to the Grand Final in 2006, only to be defeated by the Melbourne Tigers, who took home their third title. Former 36ers head coach, Phil Smyth, has been associated with the most NBL championships in league history, having won a total of six, three as a player and three as a head coach. The NBL experienced its golden age in the early to mid-1990s, but its popularity, media attention, attendance and corporate support deteriorated and plateaued in the decade afterward. Some of the NBL’s greatest players include five-time Olympian Andrew Gaze, 21-season scoring-machine Leroy Loggins, five-time championship-winner Larry Sengstock, and 500-game veterans Ray Borner and James Crawford. A seven-time winner of the NBL’s Most Valuable Player award, Andrew Gaze was Australia’s most recognised player, having competed at five Olympics and four World Championship tournaments. Gaze is the NBL’s all-time leading scorer with more than 17,000 points, and he led the league in scoring a record 14 times. Legendary head coach, Brian Goorjian, is the all-time leader in games won as a coach, ahead of former Melbourne Tigers stalwart Lindsay Gaze, and Brian Kerle of the Brisbane Bullets. All-time great players, coaches and administrators are honoured in the NBL Hall of Fame, with at least two legends of the game inducted each season. In order to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player or head coach must have been retired for at least four years. Annual awards presented by the NBL include the prestigious Most Valuable Player award, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Best Sixth Man, Best Defensive Player, and Coach of the Year. In addition, an All-NBL First Team, Second Team and Third Team is named, with the First Team made up of the leading five players in the league from that season. The current 2014–15 NBL season will see a minimum of two games per week shown on free-to-air TV via Network Ten and it's sister channel ONE. New Zealand Breakers games are also featured on a separate TV deal with Sky TV. Some clubs also have live broadcasts on local radio stations, most of which are available to listen to online. There has been significant support for the NBL to expand into Asia by many NBL players as well as ex-Australian Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian, be it differently to how it was done with the now defunct Singapore Slingers which had a 14 hour round-trip flight to the Australian east coast. A second Melbourne team (as well as the possibility of a second New Zealand team based in Wellington) was thought to be the NBL's choice of a 9th and/or 10th team from 2013, though midway through the 2012–13 season, the NBL announced that there would be no second Melbourne-based team in 2013–14. In September 2014, it was announced that a Brisbane team would re-join the NBL in 2015–16, while and Wellington in still in the mix. Equivalent to the NBL, the Australian basketball women's league is called the Women's National Basketball League. External links *Official NBL website Category:Basketball leagues